


Long Day

by makichan



Series: Locker Room Bulletin Board [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Prompt Fill, good less than a week late go me, locker room bulletin board, locker room bulletin board 10.12.2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 17:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2476775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makichan/pseuds/makichan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt was: To train and toughen up the team, Ukai takes them to the farm to do farm-related activities. ((Could be running around the field, doing manual labor, and so forth.))  I did not do it justice but it was a lot of fun to write.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Day

"Farms still exist?!" Hinata shouts from his seat on the bus, bouncing up and down until Kageyama (forced to sit next to the menace) pulls him down from the seat in front of him and smacks him.

"Of course they still exist, dumbass! Where do you think food comes from?"

Hinata stares back, wide-eyed and thoughtful. "Trees? And the ocean?"

It's 7 am and Ukai Keishin is all too ready to shut these brats up.

\--

As soon as the bus stops, the coach is the first one off the bus. At that point, he's more or less throwing himself out the door to get away from the incessant chatter of Hinata and Nishinoya, who are all too loud for this early in the morning. Heaven pours down his throat once he finally lights up his second cigarette of the day (it would be the third or fourth had Sugawara not given him that look that meant business). Nerves considerably less agitated, he watches as Hinata and Kageyama (of course) battle for the second one off the bus, falling out at the same time and looking back at Sawamura, who looks like he could use a cigarette of his own and may or may not have pushed them.

The rest of the team quickly files off the bus, yawning and stretching and generally looking a little bit pissed that Coach Ukai called them for a training session in the middle of nowhere.

On their day off.

(Asshole.)

With a clap of his hands, Ukai gathers the attention of the volleyball team, though some of the more excitable ones are starting to get hooded eyes, drifting to sleep as they stand in place.

"Ok. We're doing some training today on the farm. You guys are severely lacking in stamina. It's gotten better, but it's nowhere where it needs to be to face a team like Seijou or even Fukurodani. This kind of training will be like what we did during the summer camp. You aren't getting many breaks today. Stretch out and then do ten laps to the barn and back."

A collective turn of the head to the barn. A pregnant silence fills the air and Sawamura is the first to speak up. "How far away is that?"

"About half a mile. I'll buy dinner for whoever finishes first. Have fun."

Hinata shoots off without warning, the prize of a nice dinner fresh in his mind. "HInata! You have to stretch or you're going to hurt yourself!" Sugawara's voice is barely heard by the now sprinting Hinata. Or, if it is, he doesn't bother to follow the advice.

By the time everyone else has finished stretching, Hinata has barely finished one lap.

"Looks like the little hot-head spent too much energy," Tsukishima remarks from behind his hand as he passes by.

Hinata means to point a finger and yell at his current source of irritation-- really, he does-- but one lap has tired him out and his hand is shaking when he reaches out to touch the bus, signifying the end of his first lap. Sugawara clucks his tongue and sets off at an even jog besides Sawamura.

"Honestly, he should have listened to me."

"You know he won't, though. He learns best by failing. He needs concrete evidence, not words." Sugawara knows it's true but there's still some disappointment on his face when he watches Hinata weakly move his feet behind them.

\--

With a mark of his pencil, Takeda looks up to the coach with gleaming eyes. "It looks like Tanaka-kun or Nishinoya-kun will be winning the race."

There's a solemn nod in agreement. "Just depends on if one trips or not."

The two boys are side by side, full on sprinting. The others lag far behind.

"Noya-san, sorry, but I'm gonna beat you." Tanaka is sporting a cheeky grin, like he has a plan.

"Sorry, Ryuu, but you're not winning." Noya pulls ahead, though just barely, and Tanaka sees a beautiful steak dinner slipping through his fingers.

He lets out a strangled cry, begins moving his arms quicker and more wildly.

And ends up hitting Nishinoya in the face. The libero immediately trips, hands rushing to his face to stop what really feels like the worst bloody nose of his life. Tanaka's too far gone, too enamored by the idea of paid dinner to even stop until he reaches the bus and turns around. "Shit, Noya-san! Are you ok?"

Nishinoya's voice is muffled from behind his hands and is considerably higher. "No, I'm not ok! You just hit me in the god damn face!" Dirt is flung in Tanaka's direction and no, those are not tears dotting the corners of Nishinoya's eyes. "Coach! Don't you have a sink or something?!"

The coach nods, ushers Nishinoya over to him. "I'll lead you. You get dinner too." His wallet feels a little lighter, but he figures he might as well considering the poor kid just got clocked in the face by his friend.

The two are blocked by Tanaka bowing repeatedly, screaming his apologies to Nishinoya. Noya continues pouting a bit, eventually pointing at his friend and shouting "I"ll win next time!"

"Those two make up quickly," Sugawara comments from beside Sawamura.

"They're simple men, aren't they?" The two share a quiet laugh, lightly tapping on the bus and removing their warm-up jackets. It's still early but the sun is direct on their skin and the black of their jackets isn't doing them any favors for cooling down.

Sugawara walks up behind Tanaka, slaps him on the back. "Tanaka! You need to be more careful! Your movements are too wild! Control yourself!"

Tanaka mumbles something along the lines of "Yes, mom" and ends up on the receiving end of the captain's best glare.

\--

"Alright, guys. Now that Noya's all better, time for your next task. Go in the field. Pick some weeds. It's good for your arms. And don't be quiet about it! Use this time to get to know each other better." Or something that doesn't sound like he's just pawning off chores on to the team.

"Is there a prize for this one?" Hinata asks, hopeful. He's met with a blank stare that says 'two dinners is more than enough'. With a bit of a grumble, he trudges over to the pea plants. Kneeling down in the dirt with the sun beating down on him isn’t exactly his idea of a good time.

Takeda is quicker on the uptake than the players. “Ukai-kun. Did you perhaps have some chores you wanted to get out of the way? And thought the team would be a good way to do them?” The knowing smile on his face is obvious, just short of laughing outright at the coach.

Another cigarette is lit. “I have chores regardless of whether or not these kids do them. If they do the weeding though, it’s one less moment of hurting my knees.” And isn’t that the truth? He’s not young anymore, doesn’t exactly have the cartilage or support in his knees the way he used to. 

A long silence settles around the team as they make their way into the dirt. What are they supposed to talk about while they’re weeding? Sugawara supposes anything, but the whole task just seems like busy work under the guise of team building.

(And he’s right.)

Still, he figures talking while pulling weeds is better than silence. “So! What hobbies does everyone have outside of volleyball? This can’t be the only thing you do, right?” He certainly hopes not. Devoting yourself to something is important, but other things are important too. To be a well-rounded person meant exploring many different avenues. 

Though he didn’t expect Kageyama to do anything outside of volleyball.

“Tsukki likes dinosaurs!”

Hinata is the first to burst out laughing at Yamaguchi’s statement. “He likes dinosaurs?! Is he eight?! He didn’t grow out of that when he graduated elementary school?!” Raucous laughter bursts forth from his lips, only encouraging Kageyama and Tanaka to follow suit. Soon, Nishinoya is laughing too, slapping his hands on the ground.

Red flushes to Tsukishima’s cheeks and ears, his usually pale skin blooming from the sudden teasing. “It’s not that uncommon of a thing to enjoy. I just kept them from when I was younger. What does the King of the Court do that’s so cool?”

Everyone’s attention snaps to Kageyama. “Uh. I read…about volleyball. And watch volleyball matches. And study plays and techniques.”

“I didn’t know you could read,” Tsukishima counters darkly. Attention on someone else is much better. At least, this negative sort of attention.

“Yeah! Your grades are horrible!”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

\--

“So, what now, coach?” Hinata asks, dusting his hands of the last of the soil.

Ukai discards a cigarette on the ground and digs it into the ground with his foot. “That’s enough for today. It’s getting too hot out. Hope you all had a good day. Keep these lessons with you while you play your next games.”

Nobody cares enough to decipher what lessons they were supposed to learn from running and pulling weeds. Ukai’s ride back to the school is silent, and it’s beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> that ending tho...............looks away.
> 
> Also, Ukai ended up giving the whole team dinner. But Tanaka and Noya racked up the largest bill.


End file.
